Apostolic Leaders - A new book on the Armenian Genocide by the reknown
Norwegian International Correspondent, author, and professor of media
at Oslo University, Jahn Otto Johansen (81), was launched on Thursday
by the national PEN Club of Norway.

The event was held at "Fritt Ord" in Oslo, under the Pen Club, with
Armenia's Ambassador as an honorary guest.

The President of Norwegian Pen Club. William Nygaard, hosted the
booklaunch event. Mr. Nygaard is the former CEO of Norway´s largest
Publishing House, Aschehoug. He is known especially for the near-fatal
murder attempt against him in 1993 because he had published Salman
Rushdie´s book, "Satanic Verses".

Presuably because of fear of irritating the international diplomatic
community, not a single major book publisher in Norway would publish
Jahn Otto Johansen´s new book, but the Pen Club, supported by Fritt
Ord, financed the project in full.

Jahn Otto Johansen said: "My book isn't directed against the Turks,
although President Erdogan aggressively denies the Armenian Genocide!"

Several respected respondents gave their reflections on the book and
the Armenian Genocide in light of the 100th year commemoration on
April 24th, 2015.

Among them was reknown historian Bård Larsen who stated: "The Armenian
Genocide was primarily a psychological reaction against the Turkish
identity crisis after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire".

Armenian Genocide Centennial Event as part of Holocaust Memorial Day
A lecture by Dr. Ugur Umit Ungor

The Hague, 27 January 2015 - The first public event in the Netherlands this
year dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide, will take
place on 30 January in Amsterdam. This event is organised by the Federation
of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) in cooperation with the
Armenian Students¹ Association Gladzor (ASV Gladzor) as part of Holocaust
Memorial Day (HMD) coordinated by the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and
Genocide Studies NIOD.

A lecture on "Causes and course of the genocide" will be given by Dr. Ugur
Umit Ungor Associate Professor of History at the University of Utrecht and
Researcher at the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies
NIOD. The lecture is in Dutch.

The programme of the Armenian Genocide centennial events in 2015 in the
Netherlands and worldwide will also be presented.

TEMPE, Ariz.--On Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, the
ASU Law Students Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee will host
"100 Years Later," a two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide at
the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Conference speakers and
panelists include scholars, attorneys, and community leaders from
across the state, the nation, and around the world.

The inaugural keynote will be given by Professor Taner Akcam on
Saturday evening, and will be followed by a networking event. Sunday's
program will feature four afternoon panels, including "The Armenian
Genocide in a Comparative Perspective," "The Legal Framework of the
Armenian Genocide," "Armenian Futures: Reconciliation & Remediation,"
and "From the Ashes: Perspectives on Post-Genocide Culture and Art."

The conference will conclude with a keynote by Professor Peter
Balakian.

The conference is generously co-sponsored by the ASU Jewish Law
Students Association, The ASU Melikian Center, The ASU Center for
Jewish Studies, The ASU Center for the Future of War, The ASU School
of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, and countless
other individual sponsors.

Conference attendance is free and is open to the public. To register,
and for more information, visit the event website.

Pope Francis will celebrate a special liturgy in April with Armenian Catholics, who are marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Catholic News Herald reported.
The Vatican confirmed the pope will celebrate April 12 Mass for Armenian-rite faithful in St. Peter's Basilica.

Responding to a parliamentary question, the government of Germany
announced that it would not use the term "Genocide" for the 1915
Armenian Genocide, and that the appraisal of 1915 was primarily the
responsibility of Turkey and Armenia.

A Der Tagesspiegel news report carried by Deutsche Welle Türkçe
reports that, responding to a parliamentary question submitted by The
Left Party, the government of Germany has stated that "the appraisal
of 1915 was primarily the responsibility of Turkey and Armenia" and
that "the mass killings and deportations of 1915/1916 should be
subject to the assessment of academists".

The government also stated that it had no plans of holding a
commemoration event on 24 April 2015.

The Central Council of Armenians in Germany had expressed a desire for
government representatives to participate in commemorations. "The
Federal Government is currently examining the possibilities of
participation" was the government's response.

Jelpke: Germany is evading responsibility

Left Party Member of Parliament Ulla Jelpke criticized the stance of
the government, stating that this amounted to evading Germany's
responsibility in the crime. Jelpke added that the German Reich was an
ally of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, was aware of the
massacre, and was partially culpable.

There are more than 20 countries across the world that recognize the
Armenian Genocide. France, Italy, Poland and Russia recognized the
Armenian Genocide; while denial of the Armenian Genocide was declared
illegal in Greece, Switzerland, Slovakia and Spain.

High Park-area artist Arleen McCallum has created a mixed media piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Turkey. It also commemorates Armenian journalist and editor Hrant Dink, who was assassinated Jan. 19, 2007.

Genocides like the Holocaust and in Rwanda, where an estimated one million Rwandans were killed in 1994, are well-known tragedies in modern history.

Perhaps little known is the Armenian Genocide – the first genocide of the 20th century – that saw two million Armenians living in Turkey eliminated from their historic homeland through forced deportations and massacres from 1915 to 1918.

High Park-area resident and artist Arleen McCallum hopes to raise awareness of the massacre through a mixed-media piece she has created in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Turkey. The centennial will be marked through events around the world on April 24.

Her work, entitled Hepimiz Ermeniyiz (We are all Armenian), also acknowledges the assassination of Armenien journalist and editor Hrant Dink, who was killed in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. Dink was murdered for continuously maintaining that the Armenian genocide did actually occur, an allegation considered a crime against the state.

Inspired to visit Turkey for its architecture, art and culture – particularly its rug-making, McCallum said her travels prompted her to learn more about its history.

“Then Hrant Dink was murdered and I found myself focusing my attention – and my work – on the historic plight of the Turkish Armenians and the issue of freedom – freedom of speech and of religion,” she said.

McCallum remained glued to the TV to watch hundreds of thousands of Turks, Armenians, Muslims, Jews and Christians march in the streets of Istanbul to mourn Dink and protest his murder. Many carried signs that said, ‘Hepimiz Hrant Dink’iz’ (We are all Hrant Dink) and ‘Hepimiz Ermeniyiz’ (We are all Armenian).

“It was the masses of people in the streets that really got my attention,” said McCallum during an interview at her home. “I hadn’t known about the Armenian genocide. I started reading about it. There’s this whole Turkish denial – ‘We didn’t do it, it was just part of the war.’”

To produce the piece, a diptych in acrylic and mixed media, McCallum experimented with recycled materials like foil, fabric and found objects as well as archival photographs. She wanted to create an art work that would “bear proper witness to a disastrous historical event and the suffering and bravery of those who were targeted.”

Although, she didn’t want to include any of the “horrible” and “barbaric” images of the genocide.

The work includes portraits of Armenian survivors and witnesses, the Armenian flag, a reference to Dink’s funeral procession and a map marking the sites of concentration camps and massacres.

McCallum hopes to display the artwork publicly in honour of the centennial.

For further information about McCallum’s commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, visitwww.arleenmccallum.ca

Arleen McCallum

Painter

Armenian Project: A Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

Hepimiz Ermeniyiz (We are all Armenian) – a diptych in acrylic and mixed media on panel (48" X 72")

Instructions for Interaction

Use your pointer to hover over parts of the image to see their respective descriptions.

Hepimiz Ermeniyiz or We are all Armenian

This painting is a commemoration of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire – present-day Turkey. It also serves as an introduction for those who are unfamiliar with this disastrous event. Though large-scale violence against Armenians dates back to the 1890s, the worst phase began on April 24,1915, so that is regarded as the official start of the genocide. This piece has been completed in order to honour its centenary.

The composition includes many emblems of Armenian culture: Mount Ararat, the distinctive Armenian cross, the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, the Armenian flag, a map of routes used to march Armenians out of Turkey, and the colours of the Armenian flag.

Archival photos in the piece depict scenes of a deliberate campaign against the Armenians encompassing deportation, starvation, imprisonment and slaughter. Roughly 1.5 million died in just six years. Fragments of foil stars and moon slivers from the Turkish flag symbolize the mad frenzy during this period. Red, a prominent colour on both the Turkish and Armenian flags, flows like blood and anger. Sorrowful blues and purples emanate from the Armenian flag and the funeral processions of journalist Hrant Dink. He was assassinated in 2007 because he publicly maintained that a genocide had occurred – a belief that to this day, is a crime against the Turkish state.

Beneath the surface of the composition, there is a piece of lace which lies flat in some places and falls into folds in others. Its placement and dimension are random. It can allude to many things – domesticity, culture, harmony, comfort, order, memory, prosperity: all things Armenians were forced to abandon.

Mount Ararat, dominant and indifferent in the composition, reminds us how the natural world endures.

"Turks Shot Down U.S. Flag From Mission at Van" - The Toronto Daily
Star, October 5, 1915

January 27, 2015

The Canadian press reported on the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as
early as the 19th century. Canadians became informed about the
conditions Armenians lived in and the violence they faced during the
1895-96 Hamidian Massacres, the 1909 Adana Massacres and the 1915-1923
Armenian Genocide. Various articles from these time periods will be
posted on Sara Corning Centre for Genocide website
(http://www.corningce...om-armenia.html) over the next
several months to raise awareness and educate about the Armenian
Genocide as reported in the Canadian Press.

Not recognizing Armenian Genocide led to Holocaust: Leaders of Jewish
community of Armenia

17:40, 27 January, 2015

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. On January 27, Auschwitz concentration and
death camp of the Nazi Germany was liberated 70 years ago. The
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked on January 27. On this
occasion the UN Office in Armenia together with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the
Jewish community of Armenia organized a solemn ceremony paying tribute to
the memory of victims.

As reports "Armenpress", the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Bradley
Busetto and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Armenia Sergey Manasaryan laid a wreath dedicated to the memory of the
victims of Holocaust.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Bradley Busetto underscored: "Paying
tribute to the victims' memory, this
international day gives us an opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the
international community to take steps against anti-Semitism, racial
discrimination, and intolerance, and not to let their repetition in future."

The Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Armenia Gershon Meir Burshtein, the
President of the Jewish Cultural Center Menora Willy Weiner and Chairwoman
of Jewish Community of Armenia Rimma Varzhapetyan-Feller issued a joint
statement, which particularly runs as follows:

"We have recently encountered the revival of Nazism, anti-Semitism,
spreading terrorism and violence, the painful example of which is theArmenian Genocide in the beginning of the last century, which has not been
condemned and recognized by a row of countries and which led to Holocaust
and new genocides in future.

Taking into consideration the historical legacy of the two peoples with
similar fates, we must make all efforts to prevent the repetition of these
horrific facts of history in future.

The unacceptable silence of the international community and indifference
towards the crime against humanity and civilization, as well as the
targeted denial of any act of genocide paves the way for new violence on
religious and national grounds.

The international community must show solidarity in the direction of
recognition, condemnation, and prevention of all known genocides."

The Action Chrétienne en Orient (ACO) Fellowship released the
following statement calling on its member churches to devote one
Sunday in 2015 to the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

The Action Chrétienne en Orient was originally created to provide
assistance to the victims of the genocide that struck the Armenian
people at the beginning of the 20th century. Pastor Paul Berron, from
Alsace, was a direct witness to the terrible sufferings, and he began
his assistance in Aleppo in 1922. Since that moment, this work of
solidarity between Eastern and Western Christians has continued and
expanded.1

In 1995 in Kessab, Syria, those who continued and expanded Pastor
Berron's work gathered in a Fellowship, developing a community in
which Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian, Swiss, Dutch, and French partners met
on an equal basis.

Twenty years after the creation of this Fellowship, our community
wishes to remember the Armenian Genocide and the Chaldean-Assyrian
Massacre, which began on April 24, 1915, just one century ago. The
Turkish government still denies the existence of this genocide.

We do not wish for vengeance or revenge and we welcome the work of
Turkish citizens, be they journalists, philosophers, historians, who
no longer want to obscure these dark pages of the history of their
country.

When a group, a government, a society, wants to eliminate another
human group only because of its religious, cultural, or ethnic
identity, it is genocide. And this is the worst crime against
humanity. For, when one part of humanity decides that another part is
not allowed to exist in this world, all of humanity is attacked...

When a group, a government, a society, wants to eliminate another
human group only because of its religious, cultural, or ethnic
identity, it is genocide. And this is the worst crime against
humanity. For, when one part of humanity decides that another part is
not allowed to exist in this world, all of humanity is attacked, and
its anthropological unity is denied. Our Christian faith gives us the
conviction that every human being is created by God; that Christ gave
his life and rose for him/her and so s/he is called to live the
fullness of life, to receive forgiveness and to be loved. It is not up
to one human being to decide whether life is worth living or not.

The 20th century has known other genocides. And until now, religious
minorities in the Middle East have to suffer because of awful violence
against them. ACO-Fellowship finds that this Centenary should not be a
mere commemoration of tragic events of the past but a call for
vigilance against any speech that aims at excluding from the human
community one of its components. Such speech must be fought and firmly
rejected.

ACO-Fellowship finds that this centenary should not be a mere
commemoration of tragic events of the past but a call for vigilance
against any speech that aims at excluding from the human community one
of its components. Such speech must be fought and firmly rejected.

With people of goodwill, from all origins, in the name of the victims'
inalienable dignity, the ACO Fellowship wants to be a witness to what
happened then, which broke so many human lives. It also wants to be a
witness to Christ, who calls the whole of humanity to a reconciled
life.

The ACO-Fellowship invites all its member churches, as well as other
churches and local communities in the Middle East and in the western
countries, to devote one Sunday to the Commemoration of this event in
2015, either around April 24 or on the traditional Day of the Golden
Rule (the 2nd Advent), or at any other moment according to each
community's own wish and pace.

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the ACO Fellowship,
Rev. Thomas Wild, General Secretary
Evangelical Synod of Iran
Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East
Action Chrétienne en Orient, France
National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon
DM-échange et mission, Switzerland
GZB, Netherland

1 In 1995, ACO-France worked in the Middle East with the National
Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), the Union of Armenian
Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE), and the Evangelical
Synod of Iran; in Europe, with the Dutch churches through the
missionary body called GZB, and with the French-speaking Swiss
churches through their missionary department, called DM-échange et
mission.

BELMONT, Mass.--Prof. Henry Theriault of Worcester State University
will present a talk entitled, "'Resolution with Justice': Reparations
for the Armenian Genocide Considered," on Thurs., Feb. 12, at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center
in Belmont.

Henry Theriault

In recent years, the issue of reparations for the Armenian Genocide
has gone from being a marginal concern to a central focus in popular
and academic circles. Most of the efforts to date have been in the
form of piecemeal individual reparation cases. But what are the
possibilities and limitations of pursuing broader reparations?

Theriault chaired the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group that
in fall 2014 published its report, "Resolution with Justice:
Reparations for the Armenian Genocide." The report attempts to provide
an analysis and recommendations that would lead to a larger process of
reparations for the extensive outstanding damages of the genocide than
has previously been undertaken. At the Centenary of the Armenian
Genocide, with a gradual increase in genuine, non-denialist engagement
with the genocide in Turkey, and with the emergence of a global
reparations movement involving numerous human rights violations and
victim groups, it is an appropriate time to take a serious look at a
long-neglected topic.

Henry Theriault is professor in and chair of the Philosophy Department
at Worcester State. His research focuses on reparations,
victim-perpetrator relations, genocide denial, genocide prevention,
and mass violence against women and girls. He has published numerous
journal articles and chapters in the area of genocide studies, and was
recently named co-editor of Transaction Publishers' Genocide: A
Critical Bibliographic Review book series. From 2007-12, he served as
co-editor of Genocide Studies and Prevention, and was guest editor of
the International Criminal Law Review special issue on "Armenian
Genocide Reparations" (2014), and the Armenian Reviewspecial issue on
the "New Global Reparations Movement" (2012). His autobiographical
article, "Out of the Shadow of War and Genocide," is one of 15
featured in the forthcoming Scholars of Genocide Studies: New
Generations.

The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. at NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., in
Belmont. Copies of the report"Resolution with Justice: Reparations for
the Armenian Genocide" will be available. For more information about
Theriault's talk, contact NAASR by calling (617) 489-1610 or e-mailing
hq@naasr.org.

DPA CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT Vatican religion Armenia Turkey Pope to
lead special Armenian Mass on 100th anniversary of genocide Vatican
City Pope Francis will celebrate a special mass for Armenian Catholics
in St Peter's Basilica on April 12, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

No official motivation was given, but the service will be held in a
year marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Up to 1.5 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed by
Turkish Ottoman troops during World War I through massacres and death
marches.

The topic is taboo in Turkey, where authorities reject classifying the
killings as genocide.

In June 2013, meeting Armenian Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni at
the Vatican, Francis referred to the 1915 events as "the first
genocide of the 20th century." His remarks prompted an official
complaint from the Turkish government.

April 24, 1915 is the date when the Ottoman (Young Turk) government
arrested 250 Armenian intellectuals in Ä°stanbul and banished them to
ÇankÄ±rÄ± and AyaÅ?, both close to Ankara, on the grounds that they had
participated in subversive activities against the state. One-hundred
seventy-four of them never came back. This date has been acknowledged
as the beginning of the `genocide' of the Armenians and an official
reflex of defensive nationalism by the Turks.

Differences in opinion and historiography that subsequently ensued
have shaped the psyches of both nations. For Armenians, the fatal
measures of the Ottoman government against them have ended in the
destruction of the Armenian presence in Anatolia. They were left
bereft of a homeland and a history. Families were destroyed either by
extermination or deportation. Children were separated from their
families. Those who remained had to convert and change their ethnic
identities. The remaining Armenians hid themselves within other
collective identities (Sunni Muslim, Kurdish or Alevi). Altogether,
this havoc was named Medz Yeghern, or the "Great Calamity."

Armenians believe this painful past is further rendered unbearable
because the Turks have not acknowledged what happened 100 years ago
and instead have systematically denied any responsibility. They could
have at least condemned the government of the time and those who took
part in the execution of orders that put an end to the presence of
Armenians in Anatolia. Their expectations were never satisfied
formally.

World War I descended on the Ottoman Empire as an impoverished polity
fighting to hold onto its disintegrating periphery composed of
conquered lands and peoples. The choice of the Young Turk leaders to
participate in the war was not out of expected spectacular triumphs,
but was aimed at preserving what was left of the empire with the help
and support of the shining German war machine and its imperial
ambitions in the East.

The Russians and the British were obstacles to Germany's expansion
toward the East. Rising Turkish nationalism idealized an all-Turkish
union with Turkic peoples of Asia (the Turan utopia). This made
removing Russia as an obstacle all the more important.

Enver PaÅ?a, the strongman of the Young Turk triumvirate, decided to
conduct a surprise attack on the Russian Caucasian army in January
1915 to open the way to Central Asia. The attack ended in disaster,
and a whole army was defeated by cold, frost and bad judgment.

While imposing an air-tight news ban on the disaster in the eastern
front, Enver PaÅ?a and his accomplices wanted to cover up their flop by
accusing the Armenians of siding with the enemy and engaging in
fifth-column activities. The rest was a human disaster.

Halil PaÅ?a, the uncle of Enver PaÅ?a and the man in charge of Ottoman
forces in Persia, is on record saying, `The Armenian nation, which I
had tried to annihilate to the last member of it, because it tried to
erase my country ¦ in the most horrible and painful days of my
homeland ¦' This became the official view of Turkey and later
generations have been greatly affected by it.

While Turkish officials acknowledge that many Armenians died during
World War I, they present this misfortune as part of a wider war and
say massacres were committed by both sides.

The argument is as follows: The campaign of Gallipoli in 1915
coincides with the time of the Armenian debacle in Anatolia. Faced
with the Western onslaught, both the Ottoman Turks and the Armenians
suffered the dire consequences of war.

Some commentators call this strategy `comparing and/or racing pain.'
In accordance with this strategy, the government is organizing an
ostentatious commemoration of the Gallipoli campaign on the same day
of the accepted date of the Armenian Genocide (April 24).

What is odd is that there are two important dates in the
aforementioned battle: March 18 is the day of the naval battle when
the passage of the Allied fleet was aborted. The other is the landing
of ANZAC forces on the peninsula on the April 25, 1915.

Starting the commemorations on April 24 is a totally arbitrary move to
associate Armenian losses with that of the whole country. The focus of
attention is to be put on the fallen soldiers, among whom there were
Armenians.

The invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan to Çanakkale on
the same day he is expected to pay homage to the victims of Medz
Yeghern at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan may reflect an
amateurish evasion of empathy with a suffering nation.

Uruguayan President sympathizes with victims of Holocaust and recalls Armenian Genocide

The President of Uruguay, José Mujica, delivered a speech in a national radio and TV chain on January 27 to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, which he described as "a real affront to humanity," and used the occasion to remember the Armenian Genocide, Prensa Armenia reported.
"We reaffirm our solidarity with the Jewish people. This people composed an important part in the building of our nation. We do it with the same respect and bonhomie that deserves every smaller and larger communities, which form the genesis of our construction," said the president. "We should not forget the genocide, not yet recognized, of the Armenian people. Uruguay maintains that characteristic of respect and solidarity towards all," said Mujica.
At the end of his speech he said "only a fierce and strong education and training in tolerance can ensure a peaceful coexistence in this world."
Last week, Mujica received a delegation of representatives of the Armenian community and accepted an invitation to join the Committee to Commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide as a member of honor when he leaves the presidency in March this year. Uruguay, which has a large Armenian community, was the first country to recognize, in 1965, the genocide against the Armenians perpetrated by the Turkish state.

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday called on Turkey to take new steps towards the "truth" behind the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, saying "it is time to break the taboos," according to AFP.
"The effort towards the truth must continue and I am convinced that this centenary year will see new gestures, new steps on the road to recognition," Hollande said at a dinner with Armenian groups in Paris.

Haykakan Zhamanak: Representatives of Turkish NGOs to visit Armenia on April 24

Representatives of a number of Turkish NGOs will come to Armenia on April 24 - the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Haykakan Zhamanak writes. According to the newspaper, the Turkish anti-racism group DurDe! (Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism) is among these organizations.

TEMPE, Ariz. - On Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, the ASU Law
Students Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee will host `100 Years
Later,' a two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide at the ASU Sandra
Day O'Connor College of Law. Conference speakers and panelists include
scholars, attorneys, and community leaders from across the state, the
nation, and around the world.

The inaugural keynote will be given by Professor Taner Akgam on
Saturday evening, and will be followed by a networking event. Sunday's
program will feature four afternoon panels, including `The Armenian
Genocide in a Comparative Perspective,' `The Legal Framework of the
Armenian Genocide,' `Armenian Futures: Reconciliation & Remediation,'
and `From the Ashes: Perspectives on Post-Genocide Culture and Art.'
The conference will conclude with a keynote by Professor Peter
Balakian.

The conference is generously co-sponsored by the ASU Jewish Law
Students Association, The ASU Melikian Center, The ASU Center for
Jewish Studies, The ASU Center for the Future of War, The ASU School
of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, and countless
other individual sponsors. Conference attendance is free and is open
to the public. To register, and for more information, visit the event
website.http://conferences.a.../azarmgenocide/

Video From Delhi to Yerevan: Recounting the Armenian Genocide in Hindi - Video

January 27, 2015 By administrator

Well known Indian writer and poet Suman Keshari is embarking on a
journey to present the Armenian Genocide of 1915 through the words of
Armenian poets, stories and letters in Hindi. Keshari spoke to
CivilNet about the motivation to recount the narrative of the
Genocide.

"Aznavour Story 2015" documentary to be screened in Marseille on April
25 - Video

19:26, 28 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

"Aznavour Story 2015" - a two-part documentary by Richard Findykian
will be screened in Marseille on April 25 as part of an event
dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Nouvelles
d'Armenia reports.

A series of radio programs "Aznavour Story -2015" presented by Richard
Findykian and Jacques Bonnadier will air on French Armenian radio
stations in Paris, Lyon, Vienna, Valencia and Marseille (AYP FM, RADIO
ARMENIE, RADIO A, RADIO DIALOGUE, RADIO JM and the Jewish Radio in
Marseille).

The trailer of the film presents an episode, where Charles Aznavour
says he expects an important decision from Ankara. "Turkey is a
powerful state, and will become even more powerful of it recognizes
what has happened. I think it's time for Ankara to make an important,
real decision," Aznavour said.

At tonight's dinner to be attended by French President Francois
Hollande Charles Aznavour will be honored with a medal of the
Coordinating Council of the Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF).

A letter sent by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop obtained last month
under a Freedom of Information request - along with a file of heavily
redacted documents - is proof that the Australian government
"continues to be gagged" by Turkey on the issue of the Armenian
Genocide, according to the Armenian National Committee of Australia
(ANCA).

In the letter in question, written on May 15 last year, Julie Bishop
wrote to her Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, to soothe Ankara's
unease over statements made just days earlier by Treasurer Joe Hockey.

Mr Hockey (who is of Armenian heritage) was unable to attend the
annual Armenian Genocide commemoration in Sydney on April 24, but made
his position clear in a message to the event's organisers, saying the
word 'genocide' was the only possible way to define the actions of
Turkey 100 years ago.
"Back in 1915, the word genocide did not exist, as the UN Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was only
adopted in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust," wrote Mr Hockey,
before adding, "...there is simply no other word for what happened to
the Armenian people of Ottoman Turkey."

The statement - distributed to the world's media - caused
consternation in Ankara, and motivated the then Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to seek assurances from his Australian
counterpart that Mr Hockey's views were his own, rather than a new
position adopted by the Australian government.

Ankara has previously condemned parliamentary motions passed by South
Australia and New South Wales recognising the genocides carried out
between 1915 and 1922, which included the decimation of Pontian Greek
and Assyrian communities.

In August 2013 Turkey threatened to ban NSW MPs from attending this
year's Anzac centenary commemorations at Gallipoli, after the state
parliament passed a motion recognising the genocide.

Forced to qualify her cabinet colleague's statement, Julie Bishop's
May 15 response sought to calm Turkish concerns, saying:
"Recognising the important interests at stake for both countries, I
assure you that there has been no decision to change the long-standing
position of successive Australian governments on this issue."

Ms Bishop said that while the government was "sympathetic to the
Armenian people and other communities that suffered such terrible
losses during the tragic events at the end of the Ottoman Empire, the
Australian government does not, however, recognise these events as
'genocide'."

The minister added: "We do not seek to intervene in this sensitive
historical debate. We believe the issue is best resolved through
dialogue between the communities and governments concerned."

While the FOI request asked for background documents to the letter,
large sections of the files released by DFAT - containing briefings
and other correspondence - were redacted, citing disclosure of
information would cause damage to "the international relations of the
Commonwealth".

Meanwhile the ANCA has suggested that Minister Bishop's phrase
"recognising the important interests at stake for both countries" is
shorthand; an implicit agreement by the government not to 'rock the
boat' with Turkey in Anzac centenary year.

"It is obvious that Australia has succumbed to Turkey's ongoing
threats to ban MPs from attending the Centenary commemorations at
Anzac Cove, and even close Anzac Cove in its entirety in the lead up
to the centenary, should Australia recognise the events of 1915 as
genocide," ANCA executive director Vache Kahramanian told Neos Kosmos.

"Sadly, the Australian government continues to be gagged by a
so-called 'ally' when it comes to discussing the Armenian Genocide."

Mr Kahramanian said he was bewildered by the redactions in the
documentation which outlined the government's consideration of the
matter.

"It's clear that Australian government officials continue to succumb
to ongoing threats by Turkey and as a result, allow a foreign
government to dictate Australia's position on this issue," said the
ANC director.

"In this centenary year, where Australia will commemorate the horrors
of WWI, it should also have the moral courage to unequivocally
recognise and condemn the Armenian Genocide and pay homage to the
thousands of Australians - who were at the forefront of providing
international aid during and after the genocides of 1915-1923."

Panayiotis Diamadis, director of the Australian Institute for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, told Neos Kosmos that the letter from
Julie Bishop confirmed an "obsequious approach" by DFAT to the issue
of Armenian Genocide official recognition.

"The third-ranking member of the federal government calling for
recognition of the genocides thoroughly shook Ankara. They were, and
remain, terrified of further recognitions by parliaments in Australia.

"Australian parliamentary recognition of the genocides of the
indigenous peoples of Anatolia and eastern Thrace is inevitable,
because it constitutes recognition of the genocides in Australian
history."